Water Conservation Recognition
A system will be recognized for their water conservation and Water Management Act permit implementation efforts in 2019. This award is limited to systems subject to the Water Management Act permit registration. The recipient will be notified in early May and personally be invited to join to the virtual awards ceremony on June 1, 2021.
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Energy Conservation Recognition
A system will be awarded for working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by reducing annual electric consumption (via energy audits or in-house evaluations), completed assessments for renewable and clean energy possibilities (e.g., but not limited to solar, wind, outfall turbines, combined heat and power), and show leadership in implementing energy-related projects in 2020 The recipient will be notified in early May and personally be invited to join to the virtual awards ceremony on June 1, 2021.
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Source Protection Recognition
There will be up to four Source Protection Awards given. Each MassDEP Regional Office may nominate one PWS that showed exemplary source protection measures in 2019. The recipient will be notified in early May and personally be invited to join to the virtual awards ceremony on June 1, 2021.
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STAR L Recognition
Systems Taking Action to Reduce Lead in Schools is a dual citation given to a PWS and a school system that worked in tandem to reduce lead in school drinking water. The systems are nominated by their peers or themselves detailing their efforts in reducing lead in school drinking water. The recipients will be notified in early May and personally be invited to join to the virtual awards ceremony on June 1, 2021.
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Public Water Systems Award
This is the compliance-based Award Program. The state data bases are queried for compliance information. The highest-scoring PWSs will be recognized and will be split among NTNC, small COM (<3,300 population), medium and large COM (3,301 and over population), and consecutive systems. Scores are tabulated on a point system based on the following criteria:
The system must be in compliance with the drinking water regulations for all of calendar year 2020. MassDEP will query the state database for any non-compliance. A system will usually fall out of contention for an award due to any noncompliance, be it a report not sent in on time, a maximum contaminant level (MCL) violation, a higher-level enforcement (HLE), etc. See chart on following page for compliance activity points.
Note: it is very important to correct any inconsistencies in your record of compliance. See EPA's website (SDWIS Federal Reports Search (epa.gov)) for a review of this information. Contact your regional MassDEP office immediately if you have any questions or corrections regarding your compliance history since this information determines your qualification in the awards program.
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Additional Information
If you have any questions about the annual awards program, please contact Marie Tennant at 617-292-5885 or Marie.Tennant@mass.gov